Jakub Vadlejch

Sports Career of Jakub Vadlejch | Jakub Vadlejch Biography

Jakub Vadlejch was born in Prague on October 10, 1990. He has been competing internationally in the javelin since he reached the final of the 2007 World Youth Championships at the age of 16. By 2010, he increased his personal best to 84.47 meters and qualified for his first senior national team at the 2010 European Championships, still only 20 years old. Within two years, he made his debut at the Olympics, throwing 77.61 meters and finishing 10^th in his qualifying section. 

Vadlejch won his first Czech national championship in 2014 with a throw of 81.26 meters. He followed this up with another victory the next year with a throw of 81.91 meters.

Vadlejch saw a big breakthrough in 2016, improving his personal best from 86.21 meters to 88.02 meters. He achieved this throw at the Diamond League meeting in Paris, capturing his second of nine Diamond League victories (at the time of writing). He also qualified for his second Olympics, where he made it to the final and finished eighth.

Also in 2016, Vadlejch went on to win the Diamond League meetings in London and Zurich. His victory in Zurich was his first time winning the Diamond League Final.

In 2017, Vadlejch won a silver medal at the London World Championships, his first medal at a World Championship. His throw of 89.73 meters also set a new personal best.

He went on to win the 2017 Diamond League Final for the second consecutive season.

Jakub Vadlejch Wins Olympic Silver and Throws 90 Meters

Going into the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Vadlejch was coming off a few competitions relatively modest compared to his elite standard, throwing mostly in the low 80-meter range. However, in the Olympic final, he regained top form and threw 86.67 meters, finishing second only to Neeraj Chopra and winning silver.

Vadlejch broke the 90-meter barrier for the first time at the Doha Diamond League event in 2022, landing a throw at 90.88 meters. This excellent early-season result would be a sign of things to come for Vadlejch. Later in the season, he won bronze at the World Championships with a throw of 88.09 meters. This was his fifth World Championship and his second medal.

Vadlejch also went on to pick up silver at the 2022 European Championships, finishing behind Julian Weber. 

At the 2023 World Championships, Vadlejch once again reached the podium. He won bronze behind Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem, the men who would take the top two spots at the Olympics the next season.

Going into the 2024 season, Vadlejch looked poised to have another high finish at the Olympics after consistently throwing in the high 80-meter range. He won the European Championships in June with a throw of 88.65 meters, edging out Germany’s Julian Weber, who finished ahead of him at this competition in 2022.

Vadlejch also threw well at the Olympics, tossing 88.50 meters, but he would have to settle for fourth in a strong field.

He only competed four times in 2025 and threw a season’s best of 84.11 meters in the preliminary round of the Tokyo World Championships. His throw of 78.71 meters in the final placed him 11th.

Jakub Vadlejch Personal Life and Other Facts

Vadlejch was born in Prague. When he was younger, he would compete in other events such as the long jump. He jumped 6.78 meters in 2010.

At the time of writing, his personal best of 90.88 meters in the javelin puts him 18^th of all time.

He worked with the coach Jan Zelezny for 15 years. Zelezny is the world record holder in the event with a best of 98.48 meters.

Jakub Vadlejch FAQS | Jakub Vadlejch

How tall is Jakub Vadlejch?

According to Jakub Vadlejch’s profile from the 2024 European Championships, he’s 191 centimeters (6’3”) tall.

How much does Jakub Vadlejch weigh?

Jakub Vadlejch weighs about 93 kilograms or 205 pounds.